Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera had some positive things to say Tuesday, speaking with the press at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.
Having released Carson Wentz Monday, Rivera took the time to speak in terms of admiring Wentz the person, the man, despite the fact that Wentz disappointed Rivera with his quarterback play.
“He’s a heck of a young man,” Rivera said. “He’s a solid man. I want to wish him the best. I really do appreciate all he did for us. In the opportunity he had coming here, he did the best he could, and we really appreciate that as well.”
Rivera had wasted no time, making his decision late the previous night to apply the franchise tag to defensive tackle Daron Payne.
Rivera was quick to point out when asked, he is committed to wanting to keep Payne and get him signed, thus the Commanders were the first team to apply the tag in this 2023 offseason.
“The guy’s been very integral to the development of this football team and this defense, as well as the other guys he plays alongside,” the coach said. “We just wanted to make sure everybody understood that we are serious.”
Coach Rivera expressed the need to permit newly hired assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to bring in some staff he desired. Thus, Stanford quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard has been hired as the new QB coach. Bieniemy and Pritchard, having known each other for a decade, Rivera spoke favorably of their relationship.
Regarding Sam Howell, Coach Ron made it clear he had informed Bieniemy of his plan to go with Howell as his QB1 and that Bieniemy was on board with Rivera’s plan.
Yes, factually, Rivera incorrectly alluded to Howell’s “junior year” when he was actually speaking of Howell’s sophomore year of being graded highly by many NFL scouts.
Praising Howell, Rivera expressed, “He’s got a tremendous skill set. He’s got the kind of arm you do look for.”
What Rivera then said raised some eyebrows and brought criticism from some.
“He’s not our starter,” Rivera said. “He’s coming in as the QB1. He’ll get a great opportunity to be our starter. But we do want to find a veteran quarterback. We have Taylor Heinicke, that’s a free agent. We’ve got to work through that as well. And we’ll see what happens from there.”
Rivera was saying it is Howell’s job to maintain and keep, and he’ll be given the top place on the depth chart to do this. He was being honest, that with only 19 passing attempts, you can’t yet say the team starter is already a done deal.
Specifically mentioning Heinicke could very well indicate Rivera might like to have Taylor return as the backup if both parties can agree to a contract.
Rivera also spoke of the team now having their “head above water” and he “feels very confident going forward.”
